The station opened January 17, 1963 in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Planners designed it as a comfortable and convenient waiting facility to replace the sidewalk loading areas that had existed on 166th and 167th Streets. It received the Concrete Industry Board’s 1963 award as the area’s metropolitan structure that represents the best in conception, originality and applicability of concrete in design and construction.

The bus station’s famed concrete roof comprises 26 triangular sections that are 92 by 66 feet, each with 25 concrete panels. The sides of the roof serve to facilitate ventilation of the bus platforms and the expressway beneath the building and the concrete supporting members complement the design in the George Washington Bridge towers.

The station sits atop the Manhattan side of the George Washington Bridge, directly above the 12-lane GWB Trans-Manhattan Expressway. Approximately 4.9 million passengers used the terminal in 2012.

“The George Washington Bridge Bus Station has served a critical function for millions of New York and New Jersey commuters over the past 50 years,” said Robert Durando, General Manager of the George Washington Bridge. “We are excited to celebrate this important milestone during the same year we begin major renovations that will significantly modernize the facility and improve commuters travel experience, while also providing hundreds of jobs and considerable retail to the local community.”

Seeking to modernize the 50-year-old facility, the Port Authority is advancing a public private partnership with the GWBBS Development Venture, LLC to upgrade the space. The project will improve the efficiency and quality of bus operations and quadruple the size of the retail space to 120,000 square feet. Anchor tenants will include Marshalls, Fine Fare Supermarket and Blink Gym.

The $180 million renovation will consolidate all bus operations in a reconfigured rooftop concourse that offers transit-oriented retail, an improved waiting area, and direct vertical circulation from the subway and street levels to the bus level. The bus station will feature new technology for arrival and departure information, add five new gates, and be fully ADA compliant with improved way finding and signage.

The renovation is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2013 with a targeted completion date of 2015. The project will create more than 500 construction jobs and more than 700 permanent jobs.

CONTACT:

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

212-435-7777

Founded in 1921, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey builds, operates, and maintains many of the most important transportation and trade infrastructure assets in the country. The agency’s network of aviation, ground, rail, and seaport facilities is among the busiest in the country, supports more than 550,000 regional jobs, and generates more than $23 billion in annual wages and $80 billion in annual economic activity. The Port Authority also owns and manages the 16-acre World Trade Center site, where construction crews are building the iconic One World Trade Center, which is now the tallest skyscraper in New York. The Port Authority receives no tax revenue from either the state of New York or New Jersey or from the City of New York. The agency relies on revenues generated by facility users, tolls, fees and rents as well as loans, bond financing, and federal grants to fund its operations. For more information, please visit http://www.panynj.gov.